Brad Self is now a two time champion with the Rochester Knighthawks. This season, his brother Scott Self was traded from the Buffalo Bandits to Rochester at the trade deadline.
“Seeing my brother win the championship was the proudest moment this season.” said Brad. “He works real hard and is a good teammate and earned the right to lift that trophy. It was nice to be able to share that with him.”
Brad also expressed that he believes team chemistry for the Hawks starts with ownership. “I think it starts with Curt Styres and continues with our Coaching Staff and how they treat us as people and professionals. They believe in who they bring in as players and they very constant in their approach and belief in our team and that carries over into how we play as a group and any one new can feel that when they become a part of our team.”
The Knighthawks are the first back to back champions in the NLL since the Toronto Rock did it in 2002 and 2003. In the playoffs, Brad Self had three points in three games and during the regular season he had 22 along with 96 loose balls on the backend.
“It’s very difficult to win in general in such a competitive league. We got into the playoffs by one goal and ended up winning the championship. It’s nice to see that there is so much parity in the league. It’s very meaningful when you are at the top of your profession not one year but back to back years. It’s nice to know all the work along the way pays off.”
The Knighthawks almost didn’t even make the playoffs, needing to win against Buffalo to make it on the final day. Brad says that was the toughest part of the season.
“Playing against Buffalo to see if we were going to make the playoffs. Knowing we had such a good team and how good our chemistry was and potentially not being able to play in the playoffs. At the same time it’s great to play games that mean so much.”
As we already begin to prepare for the 2014 NLL season, the inevitable question arises. Will we see the first ever NLL threepeat?
